0047 Web 2.0 Tools as Coaching Technology for Enhancing Labor Negotiations Skills Building in Virtual Learning Environments Bob Barrett

As more colleges and universities begin to offer more courses in the virtual learning environment, changes are needed to ensure stimulating learning.  Not all academic courses can be easily transformed onto the online learning platform without some modifications or enhancements, performed by technology, to supplement these changes.  Educators have identified the need for more interaction in labor negotiations skills building courses.  This is usually taught by a skilled negotiator (instructor) and student practice is usually incorporated into the course activities.  However, how can these negotiations skills be observed and used by students, while they learn to enhance their ability to negotiate successfully?   As a result, instructors are using an additional level of technology with the incorporation of Web 2.0 tools.  These tools can afford the instructor a variety of technological approaches for use in the VLE.

We explain how Web 2.0 tools were used in a Labor Negotiations class to help students understand the various communications needed on the behalf members of management and labor (union) members.   We discuss how the tools were used in the dynamic communication process of labor negotiations and how they enable students “realize” the intensity and impact of labor negotiations in today's marketplace.  The audience will learn how the tools to helped instruction and helped learners record various practice sessions for the instructor to view for critiquing and evaluation.  Further, the instructor can then offer feedback using the tools to help improve the student's negotiating skills, as well as to motivate the student with personalized coaching.  This enables the instructor to offer more rigour in the academic learning environment, while helping the student learn from practice sessions and experience how dynamic the labor negotiation process can be.  Finally, instead of just reading assigned materials in a course, the student can view labor negotiation skills being offered by their instructor and other members of their course as the class undertakes mock simulations of contract negotiations sessions.  Possible use of the tools in other subject/skills areas such as foreign language, medical diagnosis or mock trials preparation for law students is discussed.

0251 Association for Learning Technology Learning Technology Manager Salary Summary 2010 Richard Ranker

The salary survey was conducted from 16 to 23 September 2010 on behalf of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) by ALT member, Dr. Rich Ranker, at Lancaster University. The purpose of the survey was to shed light on the following questions: 1) What are the salary ranges of those who report themselves to be managers of learning technology organisations in HE and FE the UK? 2) Is salary related to Region, Institutional Grouping, Job Titles, Number of Staff Supervised, Operational (i.e., non-salary) Budgets Managed, Level of the Line Supervisor, or Grade? The survey was distributed under the auspices of ALT and was also kindly distributed to the HE-based members of the Heads of eLearning Forum (HeLF). It contained 11 questions. There were 75 respondents. The results of the survey will be presented.